Project Manager, Global Housing Hub

Successful operation of the UN-Habitat Global Social Housing Hub in Paris, effective coordination of the Paris-Nairobi partnership, and mobilization of additional resources enabling the Hub to progressively design and implement substantive technical assistance, capacity-building and knowledge-sharing activities in line with its Concept Note and its roadmap.

Paris, France

12 Months

Organizational Setting UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities, with the goal of providing adequate and affordable housing for all. Guided by its Strategic Plan 2026–2029, UN-Habitat places a renewed and strategic focus on adequate housing, land, and basic services for all, including the transformation of informal settlements and slums, in the face of rapid urbanization, rising inequalities, housing insecurity and growing homelessness worldwide. As per the World Cities Report, 2026, more than 3 billion people are currently affected by some form of housing inadequacy, a crisis that spans both industrialized and developing countries, and is driven by population growth, urbanization, forced displacement, climate change and economic pressures, including the financialization of housing markets. Aligned with UN-Habitat's Open-Ended Intergovernmental Expert Working Group on Adequate Housing for All (OEWG-H), established pursuant to resolution 2/7 of the UN-Habitat Assembly, UN-Habitat, the City of Paris and Nairobi City County have agreed to cooperate for the establishment and operation of a twinned Global Housing Hub (the "Hub"), anchored jointly in Paris, France, and Nairobi, Kenya. The Global Social Housing Hub The Global Social Housing Hub is conceived as a Technical Assistance Facility to promote the social and public good aspects of housing, and provide on-demand technical assistance, rapid knowledge and expertise transfer globally. This will include strengthening multilevel governance towards adequate housing for all; generating and implementing locally relevant housing solutions, taking account of related areas of land management and planning, basic services and informal settlements upgrading; and, enhancing cooperation between industrialized and developing countries. The Hub will operate as a lean, agile structure delivering a layered package of support comprising: ● Capacity-building for public officials and social housing providers (online courses, virtual and hybrid workshops, practical guidance); ● Housing Studios (hybrid and virtual) enabling city-to-city learning and knowledge exchange on pressing housing issues; ● Technical assistance, normative and policy advice supporting the design, implementation and scale-up of housing policies and integrated urban development approaches related to housing, as well as the corresponding regulatory frameworks; ● Knowledge development, by contributing to the Housing Knowledge Platform, centralising best practices, guidelines and data tools from national, regional and local governments, academia, civil society, IFIs and the private sector. The Hub also serves as the implementation platform for recommendations emerging from the Open-ended Intergovernmental Expert Working Group on Adequate Housing for All (OEWG-H), translating Member States' political commitments into technical cooperation, capacity-building and policy development. The Hub will actively seek collaboration with the numerous international organizations headquartered in Paris (including UNESCO, the OECD, UNEP, the IEA, and others) as well as with the Agence française de développement (AFD), the French National Housing hub, and, through UN-Habitat's Brussels Office, with European Union institutions. The institutional set-up envisages complementary personnel based in Paris and Nairobi: personnel in Paris comprising the Project Manager, supported by secondments; personnel in Nairobi; and a pool of specialized, on-demand experts and a wider network of academic, governmental, civil society and private sector partners. The implementation of the Nairobi component of the hub is planned at a later stage. Duties and Responsibilities; In close coordination with the supervisor: 1. Institutional Establishment and Hub Management ● Coordinate the operations of the Global Social Housing Hub in Paris ● Liaise with the French partners, Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères, Ministère de la Ville et du Logement, Ville de Paris. ● Liaise with stakeholders as relevant to the Global Social Housing Hub initiatives and oversee the coordination of the pool of specialized experts and the wider partner network (academia, social housing providers, local/regional/national authorities, civil society, development banks, IFIs and the private sector); ● Coordinate, on a functional basis, the work of the personnel recruited by the Hub and of the secondees assigned to the Hub, in accordance with the applicable contractual and secondment arrangements; ● Liaise with the Nairobi-based counterpart team, once established, to ensure effective coordination of operations; ● Ensure the Hub operates as a lean, agile structure while maximising coherence between the Paris and Nairobi anchors; ● Contribute to UN-Habitat’s Digital Knowledge Repository esp. the Housing Knowledge Platform by inputting case material developed by the Hub. 2. Resource Mobilization and Partnerships ● Design and coordinate a resource-mobilization strategy to secure additional funding beyond the initial Contribution Agreements; ● Building on existing institutional partnerships, strengthen engagement with international organizations based in Paris (UNESCO, OECD, UNEP, IEA and others), the Agence Française de Développement (AFD); the French National Housing hub; and, European Union institutions and funding mechanisms in coordination with UN-Habitat Brussels Office. ● Participate on behalf of the Hub in relevant fora, including engagement linked to the OEWG-H, the World Urban Forum, the Global Urban Data Coalition, and other housing-related global and regional platforms; ● Support the Donors and UN-Habitat in preparing any joint public statements, communications or visibility material related to the Hub; ● Support building a set of global rosters of experts and partners for housing knowledge exchange, in alignment with other UNH initiatives such as the WUF, WUF academy and the stakeholder engagement mechanism - including academia and professionals, and facilitate their engagement with the activities of the Hub. ● Liaise with UNH knowledge hubs, regional and country offices, Canada office on housing research, knowledge hubs and partnerships offices as well as UN-Habitat’s housing reference group to map demand for housing studios. 3. Programme and Technical Guidance ● Coordinate the future design of the Hub's substantive workstreams, capacity-building, Housing Studios, technical assistance, and the Housing Knowledge Platform, for implementation once additional funding is secured; ● Provide technical inputs, drawing on international good practice in social and affordable housing, slum upgrading, climate-responsive housing, urban regeneration and multilevel governance, to support both the industrialized and developing countries’ dimensions of the Hub's mandate; ● Contribute to the operationalization of recommendations emerging from the OEWG-H. 4. Reporting, Monitoring and Compliance ● Prepare the annual narrative reports on performed activities and results, and coordinate the preparation of annual financial reports, in accordance with Articles III and IV of the Contribution Agreements and UN-Habitat's financial regulations, rules, policies and procedures; ● Liaise with Global Solutions Division and particular offices in UNH to ensure all future Hub activities financed by additional resources are entered into the Integrated Planning, Management and Reporting Module (IPMR) and submitted for review and approval by the Project Review Committee (PRC) ● Keep the Donors informed of relevant developments and promptly report any condition, event or situation that may affect implementation, in line with Article III of the Contribution Agreement; ● Support internal and external audit and evaluation processes relating to the Hub, as required under Articles II and III of the Contribution Agreement.

A minimum of five (5) years (with an advanced degree) or seven (7) years (with a first-level degree) of progressively responsible professional experience in housing, urban development or human settlements (especially the social aspects of housing) is required, including experience in an international or multilateral context is required. Demonstrated experience in institutional set-up, partnership development and resource mobilization is required. Experience working with, or in support of, United Nations agencies, multilateral organizations or local/national governments on housing and urban development issues is desirable. Experience in both industrialized and developing countries’ contexts, and familiarity with the New Urban Agenda and SDG 11, is an asset.

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in English and French (both oral and written) is required, given the Hub's location in Paris and its role in engaging French and international institutions.

Not available.